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Activists Blockade Chevron Fracking Site in Eastern Romania

Twenty-five activists from across seven countries, chained themselves to the gates of a Chevron shale gas exploration well in Eastern Romania yesterday, and are calling on the government to ban fracking in the country.

Photo credit: Greenpeace Romania Facebook page

The Greenpeace activists—from Romania, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Germany—held banners reading “Pungesti anti-Chevron quarantine area” and “Stop Fracking!” in protest of the U.S. energy giant’s exploration work on the ground.

For more than two months, the village became the front line of a nationwide battle to stop fracking.

Photo credit: Greenpeace Romania Facebook page

Yet, despite the local council of Pungesti having unanimously voted to ban fracking, the protesters were eventually forcibly removed, amongst accusations of police aggression.

According to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Romania could potentially hold 51 trillion cubic feet of shale gas. That’s enough to cover the country’s domestic demand for more than a century.

Chevron is the first company to begin exploring for shale gas in Romania and aims to drill more wells in the area. It has repeatedly said it does not plan to use fracking under its five-year exploration program.

But yesterday’s protest aims to highlight the potentially devastating impact on the local community if fracking was allow to go ahead in the region.

The protesters argue that the Romania government has failed to protect the local environment and its citizens by allowing Chevron to explore the area for shale gas and are calling on it to end it support for dirty fracking.

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